MEDICINE

The root was black, but the flower was like milk;
the gods call it Moly, and it is difficult for mortal men to dig up,
but the gods can do all things.
original: "ῥίζᾳ μὲν μελὰν ἔσκε γάλακτι δὲ εἴκελον ἄνθος / μῶλυ δ' μιν καλέουσι θεοὶ ἀνδράσι γε θνητοῖσι / θεοὶ δ' πάντα δύνανται." These lines are from Homer's Odyssey, describing the magical herb given to Odysseus.

This is the plant which he Hermes assigned to Ulysses against the enchantments of Circe. It grows (as Pliny says) around Pheneus and in Cyllene of Arcadia, with that appearance described by Homer: a round, black root the size of an onion, a leaf like a squill, and difficult to dig up.

Then there is that holy Panace Panacea, the "all-heal", promising by its very name remedies for all diseases; it too is credited to divine inventors, namely Chiron, Hercules, and Aesculapius.

To Hercules is also attributed the plant called Apollinaris, known among the Arabs as Altercum or Altercumgenum, but among the Greeks called hyoskyamos original: "ὑοσκύαμος" — Henbane. Likewise, there is Heraclion Siderion Ironwort, which most effectively heals all wounds inflicted by iron.

Who the first author of the herb Mercurialis was is indicated by the name itself, which it retains to this day. Achilleon is also a very well-known herb. It was first demonstrated by Achilles—not the one from the Trojan War, I believe, but the disciple of Chiron—as a wound-healing herb. For this reason, it is called the herb of Achilles. He is said to have healed Telephus with it.

It contributes to this point that even to this day, we still call plants by these same names: namely, the Lip of Venus, the Beard of Jupiter, the Blood of Hercules, the Solar herb, and the Lunar herb. By this same tradition literally "superstition," referring to the practice of naming plants after deities, it happened that among Christians, herbs came into such esteem that they were inscribed to Saints: namely to St. James, Peter, John, Magdalene, and Mary. For thus they call certain plants today: Mary’s Thistle, St. Peter’s wort, St. James’s wort, St. Christopher’s herb, and six hundred others of this kind. This is for no other reason than that they were commonly believed to possess something divine within them, or were demonstrated by great men.

Which trees are consecrated to which Gods

That types of trees were also dedicated to their own deities—such as the Winter Oak to Jupiter, the Laurel to Apollo, the Olive to Minerva, the Vine to Iacchus Dionysus, the Myrtle to Venus, the Poplar to Hercules, and Lilies to Pan, the God of Arcadia—is testified not only by the books of the poets but also by the writers on herbs. But since even boys read these things in their schoolrooms, it will be more than enough to mention them in passing regarding a matter so well-worn and obvious, lest we seem to be ignorant of them.

Concerning the discoverers of herbs.

I come now to the discoverers of herbs, who were nonetheless famous men: indeed, they were either Kings, Queens, or certainly of some other eminent condition. Thus there was a certain Gentius, King of the Illyrians. It is said that even in the midst of arms, he was so studious in the knowledge of herbs that he was the first to discover and demonstrate the powers of Gentian. No doubt he hoped to achieve much greater glory from this than if he had conquered a hundred cities; for how much more honorable it is to save so many men from harmful infirmities—a task which that root performs excellently, being known everywhere even to mule-doctors and veterinarians. The herbs of that age were more fortunate then, having Kings and Princes as their discoverers and cultivators; by the dignity and excellence of these men, the herbs increased their own glory. Of this...